Engaging faculty even in Professional Colleges on reduced wages & for session per session is surely detrimental to future of students

DAYA SAGAR

J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been quoted in media as having said on last 25th October while addressing the valedictory session of the two-day National Education Policy (NEP) Conclave-2025 organised by the J&K Higher Education Department (HED) at Amar Singh College Srinagar that quality and innovation should remain the central pillars of higher education . Before the subject is taken further it is not out of place to mention here that what to talk of private sector even the Governments are found not lagging behind in exploiting the needy unemployed highly qualified youth by laying / adopting recruitment rules / policies where in even the youth with post graduate / professional degrees could be appointed in ‘underemployed’ status ( unfairly reduced wages even against regular vacancies) with even half the wages otherwise due for job vacancy/ post. It has also become a common custom for the political leaders and political activists who are when out of power to cry and express concern for the unemployed youth / under employment youth as and when they see some elections to parliament / legislature approaching. Practice of employing even Teachers in senior secondary schools , Lecturers in colleges, Assistant professors in universities / engineering colleges / medical colleges against some regular substantive post year after year or session after session on academic arrangement basis / contractual basis / a consolidated wage/ re employing retired professors on contract basis has nearly become regular practice in J&K where cases could be quoted of repeated appointments session wise and in some cases not filling the posts even for 2- 3 yrs ( even more ) by regular recruitment . A test check on such cases in Jammu University / Government College of Engineering & Technology Jammu / Government Medical Colleges would surly substantiate the status with cases where same person would have been appointed on academic arrangement basis for session after session even for 3 to 4 sessions without advertising/ filling post through PSC or by timely recruitment through PSC and that too in some cases on reduced wage. One would ask when the same person is appointed for another session ( who is suitable for the job experience / qualification wise) why not appoint him/ select him/her as a regular appointee ?
Such practices have not kept only the employed under mental/ social / emotional stresses worth adversely affecting their dedication / capacity towards performance of assigned job but also the quality of teaching.. Those employed in teaching institutions/ extension services if remain under economic/ unfair social stresses surely work with reduced initiative for imparting training / education and professional motivation to the students in their institution thereby indirectly effecting the quality of the students / the targeted beneficiaries. Just for reference the Govt College of Engineering Jammu which is much older than Jammu IIT otherwise should have been academically & infrastructure wise better than even IIT Jammu but a test review of the status of this college faculty wise & market placement would be worth taking a note . Some may even observe that the system there has benefitted the students less and more to those employed there over the years to progress in their academic status ( BE to M. Tech to Ph D) as well as cadre status. The status of faculty reflects the quality of the product . The administration and the policy makers must take immediate note of such like prevailing unhealthy culture of framing the faculty in higher education institutions in case they seriously take the advice given by J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on 25th October 2025 while addressing the valedictory session of the two-day National Education Policy (NEP) Conclave-2025 organised by the J&K Higher Education Department (HED) at Amar Singh College Srinagar that quality and innovation should remain the central pillars of higher education.
Had the leaders who have been often found talking of quality in education & related infrastructure been not simply in run for finding some space in the media but had been truthfully concerned, they would have worked in a regular way atleast for the ‘underemployed university educated youth’ retained as faculty even in the professional colleges and got undone the unfair practices of continued contractual / repeated academic session related employments& that too at reduced wage in government institutions like as per Government Order No: 137 -JK(HE) of 2024 Dated: -03-2024 ( Guidelines for engagement of faculty on Academic Arrangement/ Guest Faculty in Government Degree Colleges / GCET etc. of UT of Jammu & Kashmir ) where salary of Lecturer in GCET on session basis is mentioned as Rs.28000/ pm ( consolidated ), all selections /engagements to be for a maximum of one academic session only and a fresh advertisement and engagement process to be initiated for every academic session, only 30 days maternity leave ( without wages) and employment excluding the period of summer vacations / winter vacations. Imagine the instability in which such teaching staff may be working and affect .of that on the beneficiary students in a engineering college ? Attempt was made to find out some data on the regular appointments made through advertisements following some existing session wise appointment but instances could not be found worth dismissing the observations that appointments session wise are made session after session not occasionally.
What the chief Minister has opined on 25th October has been very appealing and worth raising hopes worth expecting that Omar Government is for setting priorities on academically structuring the higher education institutions / colleges ( atleast the professional colleges ) also with adequately stable faculties like atleast undoing the system of appointment of lecturers / assistant professors in Engineering Colleges like Government College of Engineering & Technology on academic arrangement basis for only one session which has almost become a regular practice since such practice / recruitment culture is surely not going to give us a dynamic and learner centric systemic environment on ground to compete / fit in the modern competitive technological environment. The way such appointments are made session after session it could be inferred that the posts are not in regular course advertised/ filled through J&K PSC / or in some other manner since in case a detailed in-depth study is conducted it would be found that in some cases some senior faculty members had joined the college after just B.E/ B.Tech degree and have risen to level of regular senior faculty by attaining M.E / Mech/ Ph D qualification while serving in the college itself which very well shows how badly the education of the students might have been affected in such environment.
Some cases may also come in light where a person has been appointed more than one time on session to session academic arrangement basis and has been there after adjusted on regular basis ( even risen to level of HOD). One would ask in case the post was advertised through PSC and no selection was made through PSC , how could the one who had earlier worked for a session was reappointed for a session? Such cases may be found in the other higher education colleges too and hence there is fair need for getting a study conducted since the prevailing system adversely affects the education quality since an unstable faculty cannot academically do justice to the job being under rated, under paid and under pressures of being there with unstable career.
Will the J&K Chief Minister order for test check as discussed here atleast in the ‘premier’ institutions like Government Engineering Colleges in J&K is the question ?.
(The writer is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs [email protected] 09419796096)